Hello hello

Welcome to newsletter number three! It's literally bursting at the seams this month, we have everything from interviews, through videos, to a quiz (and some very cute fox cubs too!). Unfortunately the snow reeked havoc with most of our plans for January, however, we did get to play in the snow with the dogs (checkout the video evidence!). The noise Sasha and Shep make when they get snow up their little noses is... well... lets just say we love them more than ever! We also received some lovely comments about last months newsletter – here's our favourite:

“I just wanted to say that I really loved this month's newsletter. The feature about Maggs actually made me cry because I love the power that animals have to open peoples' hearts, even those folks who you would least expect! I also loved the interview with the vegan, boating family. I thought their way of life sounded idyllic and inspirational” - M.Dunnion, Emerald City Healing.

Anyway – all is well here, hope you enjoy the show

Best Wishes

Joey, Anna & The Gang..

Valentines day Video

Watch the cute plasticine pets in our logo come to life in this adorable animation! It's valentines day, and poor Byron the rabbit is lonesome - what will he do to cheer himself up? Never mind love - mischief is in the air!

Ethical Business: Ethical Life

Read all about Tanya Vaughan, an ethically minded interior designer (with a very cute dog called Wrighty). Tanya uses clever, well-made furniture, along with energy-saving exteriors, to create eco-friendly, fair-trade and long lasting designs... beautiful and ethical, just the ticket!

Anna interviewed by FSFE!

What some of you maynot know is that Anna is a bit of a computer geek... This month Anna was interviewed by FSFE (The Free Software Foundation Europe) about the software used for Ethical Pets. Last year she was also interviewed by the BBC for technology show Outriders – you can hear the interview online here (about 17 mins in).

Shep Interviews Yarrah

This month Shep interviews Yarrah about organic pet food. Finally, your questions answered: what does Organic mean in relation to pet food, and is organic pet food better for our pets? To celebrate our Organic lovin', we have continued our special offer for a free Yarrah wet dog food with every dog order for another month!

Special Offer

Spoil your dog this valentines day with this fragrantly-special offer... our calming soothing doggy massage oil and a hand made, natural, odor-eating dog soap for only £11.99. A long bath, nice massage and a quiet evening by the fire-side sounds wonderful eh? For you? Nope... that's the doggy’s valentines day present!

Last month we looked at the largest animals in the world, a list dominated by the whales and sharks. Keeping with the theme, this month we will learn about some of the tallest and longest animals - but this time staying on dry land (I think we have all had enough of water for now, what with all that snow and rain!). Here at Ethical Pets we have quite a menagerie of cats and dogs - but none of them are very tall. The tallest dog in the world was a Great Dane, measuring 7 feet and 2 inches (218.44 cm) from head to tail. On the feline side, the Savannah cat rises above all else - with the tallest so far measuring 17.1 inches (43 cm) from shoulder to toe. The tallest land animal is of course the Giraffe, which can grow up to 20 feet tall (just think of a two story terraced house) but the longest of all animals is the Bootlace Worm, which has been recorded as measuring 55 meters long (wow!). Now lets checkout the loudest animals. The loudest insect is the Cicada which is similar to a grasshopper: they sing during the mating season, and the bigger the cicada the louder its song. The loudest measured cicada song was 106.7 decibels, that's louder than a subway train! And it seams that size really does matter when it comes to noise, as the loudest of all animals is also the biggest - the Blue Whale. Along with Fin Whale, Blue Whales can make a foghorn blast of up to 188 decibels - that’s louder than a rocket launch.

Pretty much going on as we are. Last year, we moved into a new wildlife hospital, which took everything up a notch. It would be nice if we could have a quiet year – time and space to settle in.

Is that likely?

No! Last year we admitted 640 casualty foxes and THAT was a quiet year, possibly because the fox population fell slightly – a natural phenomena with self-regulating species like the fox. But we normally take in around 750 per year and I expect 2013 will be typical.

Is the new wildlife hospital making a difference to what you can do?

The Fox Project has struggled for 20 years with converted premises, spending valuable funds on annual renovations just to stand still. We’ve always prided ourselves on hygiene and efficiency but it’s so much easier when everything is new and designed for the purpose.

Readthe first chapter in our review of The Paw report. The paw report, conducted by the PDSA and YouGov, interviews 4000 people each year to find out ‘The Truth about Cats, Dogs and Rabbits’ in the UK. The report lifts the lid on the most concerning pet health and welfare issues facing pets today, and is full of interesting facts and statistics. We are reviewing it chapter by chapter and learning as we go... Join in by taking the simple quiz below! Want to read more? Checkout our blog!